# LonesomePolecat is too cowardly to call me a traitor to my face **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 23, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879 "2006-06-23T15:57:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/81 "2006-06-23T21:46:12Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Why are you fixated on traitor? Because treason is a crime and despicable, and the fact that he included it in his list means that he thinks there are traitors in the anti-war movement. So, who are they? ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/82 "2006-06-23T21:49:00Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > why aren’t you being accused of being, say, a coward? A defeatist? Why are you fixated on traitor? I think the answer was given in the OP > [@](#): > > I am an American. I love my country and the set of ideals espoused in the Constitution. In fact, my love for my country is the closest thing to a religion I have. Unlike a subject, serf or slave, American citizens govern themselves and thus have a responsibility to keep tabs on what their country is doing and, if it is going in the wrong direction, speak out and do everything in their power to correct the course of the country. A tad\* OTT IMO but horses for courses and all that 😉 - 😉 ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/83 "2006-06-23T21:54:41Z")
> [@you with the face](#): > > (bolding mine) > > Of course he doesn’t have the guts to say that. I’d kick his ass for that. So you see my point, then. ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/84 "2006-06-23T22:04:37Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Merely “turning a blind eye” wouldn’t affect the matter in the slightest unless such “cowards, quislings, fools and defeatists” are so numerous as to constitute some major political force; if some a tiny minority of people “turn a blind eye” to any political issue, what difference does it make? He wasn’t talking about **merely** turning a blind eye. Read what you’re quoting. He was talking about turning a blind eye **and** doing their damnedest to undermine support for the war. And how effective they are is irrelevant to whether or not he was lumping you in with these people. It may mean he’s **wrong** (I think he’s wrong, anyway), but it still doesn’t mean he’s calling you anything. > [@](#): > > If you’re going to rely on some legalist interpretation of his words to try to excuse him for what he said, at least be honest about it. Hey, it may be picking nits to dissect out precisely what his words mean, but it’s better than flying off the handle about something they demonstrably **do not** mean. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/85 "2006-06-23T22:04:57Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I agree. I think it’s pretty funny. Biggirl too, now. What **jsgoddess** and **yojimbo** said. Also because, as I pointed out in post #40, the cowards and fools turned out the be the chickenhawks, and “defeatist” doesn’t actually mean anything beyond “nanny, nanny, boo-boo, yer a big doodyhead.” Under the circumstances, “quisling” is the only thing left to object to. ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/86 "2006-06-23T22:08:16Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Because treason is a crime and despicable, and the fact that he included it in his list means that he thinks there are traitors in the anti-war movement. So, who are they? I think it’s pretty safe to say that there are thieves, tax cheats and deadbeat dads in the anti-war movement, too. Does that make you mad? Take a logic class. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/87 "2006-06-23T22:12:03Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > I see no evidence. There’s no obvious similarity in their rhetorical form to lead me to think that. You’ve recognized that he doesn’t know shit about rhetoric, but I still think that’s what he was trying to do, however poorly: -He quoted a bullet point that he later suggested was broad-brush. -He added a broad-brush bullet point. -He said, “That one’s even better than yours.” Obviously he means something sarcastic by this, since he clearly doesn’t think the first one is good. -Later, he asks someone who objects to his post, “You object to my post but not Cervaise’s?” THat question again tries to establish equivalence between the two. > [@](#): > > Besides, under that assumption, then everything **Lonesome Polecat** posts in political threads is “poorly-formed satire”, since I see no difference between this and any of the other diarrhea he squirts at the rest of us. Are you saying you think this is some long-term trolling rather than his earnest views? I don’t know aobut the rest of his posts. I’m just looking at his behavior here. It’s sort of like trying to figure out what squirrels are trying to accomplish through their behavior: approach him as a naturalist and not as a rhetorician, and it might make more sense. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/88 "2006-06-23T22:13:12Z")
Instead of being indignant at the idea that someone is lumping you with quislings, defeatists etc., why not just fire back with a set of equally ludicrous and/or hackle-raising descriptors? “Those who claim that the latest “revelations” justify the Administration’s pre-war hype and subsequent military action in Iraq, are a bunch of knaves, morons, and swine rooting in the wreckage of our national self-interest.” ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/89 "2006-06-23T22:28:55Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Instead of being indignant at the idea that someone is lumping you with quislings, defeatists etc., why not just fire back with a set of equally ludicrous and/or hackle-raising descriptors? I’m kind of bummed no one’s been called a “mustelid felcher” yet. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/90 "2006-06-23T22:29:00Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Instead of being indignant at the idea that someone is lumping you with quislings, defeatists etc., why not just fire back with a set of equally ludicrous and/or hackle-raising descriptors? > > “Those who claim that the latest “revelations” justify the Administration’s pre-war hype and subsequent military action in Iraq, are a bunch of knaves, morons, and swine rooting in the wreckage of our national self-interest.” Uhh, did you have some examples of ludicrous ones? ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/91 "2006-06-23T22:32:21Z")
Taking a leaf from his own debating techniques, I would just like to say to him - [this.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6439693&postcount=20) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/92 "2006-06-23T23:53:33Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Instead of being indignant at the idea that someone is lumping you with quislings, defeatists etc., why not just fire back with a set of equally ludicrous and/or hackle-raising descriptors? > > “Those who claim that the latest “revelations” justify the Administration’s pre-war hype and subsequent military action in Iraq, are a bunch of knaves, morons, and swine rooting in the wreckage of our national self-interest.” I thought equivocating, pussyfooting chickenhawks did the trick. > [@galt](#): > > He wasn’t talking about merely turning a blind eye. Read what you’re quoting. He was talking about turning a blind eye and doing their damnedest to undermine support for the war. And how effective they are is irrelevant to whether or not he was lumping you in with these people. It may mean he’s wrong (I think he’s wrong, anyway), but it still doesn’t mean he’s calling you anything. I’ve protested against the war. I’ve written my congresscritter. I am doing my best to undermine support for this war. I haven’t been that effective. Which am I? A traitor, a fool, a defeatist or a quisling? None of the above! LP wasn’t talking about me or vibronica or Miller or anybody on this particular messageboard. Noooooo. He was talking about all those ghostly people who aren’t here to call him on his stupidity. I say again: I do not want an apology. I want him to stand by what he said so that we can talk, not stand behind semantics. And no, I won’t be polite. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/93 "2006-06-24T00:02:03Z")
> [@rayh](#): > > Taking a leaf from his own debating techniques, I would just like to say to him - [this.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6439693&postcount=20) I sort of liked that one. Simple, direct, gets to the point expeditiously. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/94 "2006-06-24T00:54:20Z")
Oh, please, people. Cervaise peed in my cornflakes, so I peed in his. It’s that simple. And I still haven’t gotten so much as a half-way decent limerick out of this thread yet. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/95 "2006-06-24T02:12:40Z")
> [@galt](#): > > I think it’s pretty safe to say that there are thieves, tax cheats and deadbeat dads in the anti-war movement, too. Does that make you mad? > > Take a logic class. How can I apply logic to a statement that didn’t use it in the beginning? LP’s hypothesis was that Hussein wanted to wait for the sanctions to be lifted so that he could “ramp up production.” And that Hussein could “always count on cowards, quislings, fools and defeatists in the United States to turn a blind eye to the fact that he simply was NOT going to give up chemical weapons, no way, no how, and do their damnedest to undermine support for any kind of forceful action against him.” So, LP thinks that those “cowards, quislings, fools and defeatists” would have been able to keep forceful action from taking place? THAT was Hussein’s master plan? His defense of the war boils down to: “We had to go to war despite protests because later we might not have been able to go to war because there might have been protests!” ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/96 "2006-06-24T03:25:40Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > How can I apply logic to a statement that didn’t use it in the beginning? > > LP’s hypothesis was that Hussein wanted to wait for the sanctions to be lifted so that he could “ramp up production.” And that Hussein could “always count on cowards, quislings, fools and defeatists in the United States to turn a blind eye to the fact that he simply was NOT going to give up chemical weapons, no way, no how, and do their damnedest to undermine support for any kind of forceful action against him.” > > So, LP thinks that those “cowards, quislings, fools and defeatists” would have been able to keep forceful action from taking place? THAT was Hussein’s master plan? > > His defense of the war boils down to: > > “We had to go to war despite protests because later we might not have been able to go to war because there might have been protests!” Did you read post #94? I’m flattered that you and all these others think I’m so important that a single, smartass, throwaway post of mine in “Great Debates” deserves all this exegesis, but really, I got bored with all this yammering quite some time ago. Do you really believe anything important is being accomplished here? Could anything I’ve ever said on this board (or anywhere) really matter that much to you? Don’t you have anything more gratifying to do with your all too brief time on this earth? Christ, Mohammed and Moses! Get a sense of perspective! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/97 "2006-06-24T04:18:58Z")
From my perspective, you’re a boil that needs lanced. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/98 "2006-06-24T04:53:48Z")
When I drove home this evening there was a dead skunk in the middle of the road. Stinkin’ to high heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/99 "2006-06-24T07:06:54Z")
Bet it could still vote in Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879/100 "2006-06-24T09:19:42Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > And I still haven’t gotten so much as a half-way decent limerick out of this thread yet. _ahem_ The simian LonesomePolcat Is quite fond of Iraqi combat But his posts full of gall Ain’t nothing at all But fodder for us to laugh at [sub]Okay, I got nothin’[/sub] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lonesomepolecat-is-too-cowardly-to-call-me-a-traitor-to-my-face/361879.md?page=6)